Helping Create Success
Enough With the Phony Familiarity
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rends in business communication shift with the times, as they should.
During my early days as a public speaking coach, the fad (never a good one) was to “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them!” Pure bunk and fortunately no longer in vogue.
Being under lock down has had its own influence on how we talk shop, some good and some extremely vexing. I’ve been able to coach online classes on how to Upgrade Presenting Skills for Zoom, and the results are deeply gratifying- formerly shy, introverted senior level people have absolutely bloomed. Confidence is shored up. Meetings become engaging once people understand how to speak on/camera.
Now I’m seeing an annoying trend and to anyone out there who thinks it’s clever, think again. It’s e-mail abuse, in the form of familiarity:
“Hi Katie, I hope you’re doing alright and are in a good place…are you? You’ve probably noticed from my emails lately that…” These are from people I’ve either never heard from, or else haven’t heard from in a dozen years or more. So no, I haven’t noticed anything lately and this approach guarantees that I never will again.
Please don’t make that mistake out of sheer desperation. Or another type- my husband got a jocular work email, much the same fake friendly but with the added touch of the sender in a highly inappropriate outfit and pose.
Enough With Slap-Happy Webinar Hosts and Guests
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y husband wonders why I watch so many webinars, often to complain about them later. I watch to try to learn new stuff, but the tone of many makes them irritatingly unwatchable.
When was it decided that when you’re on/camera, you have to present a hyped-up, big-smiling, wildly excited persona? We’re not selling used cars here, yet mute the sound and it sure looks like it. How many times can we hear “Awesome!!!” “Amazing!” “Great question!” “I’m so excited about this webinar!” without running out of the room in despair?
It can be exhausting just trying to figure out what they’re actually talking about, which too often is precious little. After all that fuss.
Please take a moment to consider who you really are and how to project that on/camera, rather than copying what you see others doing. One Gary V is enough. A few tips on being authentic on/camera:
- Be prepared. If you’re working with scripted material, rehearse it until you’re comfortable and know the flow of it.
- If it’s improvised content, know who’s involved and what the overall plan or goals are.
- Cool it on the caffeine. When we’re “on” we naturally get a spike in adrenaline, so we don’t need to add too much caffeine into the mix. Try herbal tea instead.
In the past week I’ve watched maybe eight webinars and of them, only one got it right. Three women shared the content seamlessly, all were well-spoken and prepared and none felt the need to gasp about how happy they were.
The result? An excellent listening experience for me, on the subject of mind set and how to manage it. Informative, uplifting and thank you to Judy Goss of What Women Want for hosting it.
Webinar Success Tips
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hen I gave a webinar a few weeks ago, the subject of which was “Meetings You Won’t Want to Miss” I was shocked to learn that after speaking for 45 minutes on the subject… I still had 387 attendees and they had questions. About meetings??
Well…yes. And the point is that just about any subject can be made engaging if you make the right choices. In my case, I was asked to speak on the topic of meetings and I said I would but… I had misgivings. Meetings are boring, for the most part. People don’t like them. So I decided to state that at the very top-to confess my own negative impressions and take it from there. Choosing to open with the “elephant in the room” is stronger than ignoring it. If your topic is similarly bogged down with a negative reputation, it’s good to address it up front.
The other strong choice that I made was to include visual slides (cartoons, photographs etc) that were humorous. This works well for two reasons:
- images convey information much more quickly than words, so you don’t have to belabor the point
- the attendee is compelled to look at the screen, rather than just listening
The people running the event were able to see when attendees were actively engaged with their screens (I don’t know how as I wasn’t privy to that info) So in addition to having images to look at, I also had some simple bullet points on slides, which I did not read to them. It is the kiss of death, and most presenters make this common mistake. Listening to someone else read what is already written is dull, and slows your pace way down. Instead, allow a few seconds of silence when the bullet points come up. That way your audience can read it in peace, and your comments can pick it up from there.
Webinars are one of the most challenging forms of presenting to pull off well. They require a lot of preparation, and an understanding of language, both written and spoken. But they are well worth it for their ability to enable you to connect with larger audiences and to take questions
One of the biggest points I got questions on was my suggestion to make all meetings “Device Free” and having a collection basket placed by the door. What a difference it makes, and can kill the desire for a meeting in the first place! I recently did this at a dinner party, and I don’t know who took it worse at first- the teenagers or the over 60 year olds. It turned into a great success, and no one got hurt in the process.
One Common Mistake to Avoid When On Camera
A quick word on background when shooting a video: open bookshelves are a popular place for people to position themselves in front of, but I advise my clients against it.
Books & photos have a very “talky” energy to them, so while you might be focusing on your message, your audience can’t help but notice what’s going on behind you. That means your background is pulling focus away from you and onto itself.
A better choice is to place yourself in front of a simple setting that is uncomplicated and almost zen-like. A well-placed prop can go far…a healthy plant or beautiful object…candles, floral decoration, or a backdrop that you customize for your shoots. The goal is to make it easy for your audience to watch and listen to your every word, and not to try to make out the titles on your bookshelf.
